The present invention relates to liquid drainage systems.
Liquid drainage systems of the type which drain urine from a patient's bladder are known. Such systems generally comprise a catheter having a distal end received in the patient's bladder and a drainage lumen extending through the catheter, a hollow drainage tube, and a collection bag connected to a downstream end of the drainage tube, with an adapter at an upstream end of the drainage tube being received in a connector adjacent a proximal end of the catheter. In use, urine drains from the bladder through the catheter and drainage tube into the collection bag for collection therein.
Such drainage systems are sterile and are closed to the atmosphere to prevent bacteria from entering the system which otherwise might pass by retrograde movement into the bladder with possible deleterious results to the patient. In particular, it is undesirable to remove the adapter from the catheter connector since such a procedure could allow entry of bacteria into the system. Hence, it is desirable to discourage such disconnection, and, at the very least, if it is necessary to make the disconnection, such as for irrigation of the catheter, it is desirable to know when such a disconnection has taken place.